Everyone knows or should know that gambling floors are off limits to anyone under the age of twenty one. Regulations are tight and security is everywhere but in one Pennsylvania casino security was apparently not tight enough. A fourteen year old girl made her way past security, played the slot machines, talked to a cashier and then cashed out before being noticed at the Harrah’s Chester casino.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has stated that it took an hour and ten minutes before a security guard noticed her. The casino has her on film for that duration playing on the slot machines before she is caught.

The Gaming Control Board was very unhappy with this occurrence and fined the casino $20,000. Lisa Pertzoff of the National Council on Problem Gambling stated she was “horrified” and that “Fourteen is a stretch. Someone, apparently, was not minding the store.”

Richard McGarvey, a spokesperson for the gaming control board, told Fox 29 News: "That is something that -- to us -- says the casino needs to do a better job, needs to be carding, looking out for these individuals. And, when that doesn't happen, we have to take an action."

The teenage girl was at the casino with her aunt, who should have known the age limit. Pertzoff stated: “It’s possible that someone who might think nothing of giving a kid a lottery ticket to a fourteen year old for Christmas would not dream of offering them a glass of gin, or a joint, or a line of cocaine because they do not perceive the gambling to be a problem.”

The aunt may not have seen anything wrong with it, but bringing the young girl into the casino was breaking the regulations as well as teaching the girl about gambling at a very young age. The casino has said they will be hiring more guards and retraining them to try and keep this from happening again.


- 2008-09-03